Leon Berbecki
- Birth Date:
- 08.07.1874
- Death date:
- 23.03.1963
- Length of life:
- 88
- Days since birth:
- 54721
- Years since birth:
- 149
- Days since death:
- 22321
- Years since death:
- 61
- Extra names:
- Leon Berbecki, Piotr, Leon Berbecki
- Categories:
- Engineer, General, Military person, Order of Lacplesis
- Nationality:
- pole
- Cemetery:
- Gliwice, Central Cemetery (pl)
Leon Berbecki (28 July 1875, Lublin – 23 March 1963, Gliwice) was a Polish army officer, who fought in the Russo-Japanese War and World War I with the Imperial Russian Army. Following the foundation of the Second Polish Republic, Berbecki served in the Polish Army.
Early life
Peter Leon Berbecki, born on a farm in Kalinowszczyzna in what is now Lublin, was one of four children. After graduating from grammar school, Berbecki enlisted in the army in 1891.
Military career
After a short stint as an enlisted man in the 44th Infantry Regiment, Berbecki was sent to a Junkers military school, returning to his regiment in 1893. After serving as a junior officer, including a stint as quartermaster of his regiment, he left the army in 1901 to study at the Kharkiv Institute of Technology.
In early 1903, he was drafted into the Imperial Russian Army as an officer. He later joined the Polish Legions during World War I (commander of a regiment, battalion, member of headquarters), distinguishing himself in the Battle of Raśna in 1915. After the Oath crisis in 1917, he headed the Polish Auxiliary Corps and was the training inspector of the Polnische Wehrmacht. After Poland regained its independence in 1918, he joined the Polish Army. Promoted to general in June of that year, Berbecki fought in the Polish-Ukrainian War and Polish-Soviet War, commanding the 3rd Polish Legions Division. During the interwar period, he held various functions in the Polish Army and retired in March 1939.
He did not participate in the Polish September Campaign that marked the start of World War II but was arrested by Nazi Germany and interned along with other Polish officers. He returned to Poland in 1945, and published his memoirs "Pamiętnik generała broni" (Memoires of a General) in 1959.
Honours and awards
Recipient of Virtuti Militari (V class), Cross of Independence with Swords, Cross of Valor (4 times) and Cross of Merit (5 times).
- Silver Cross of the Order of Virtuti Militari
- Commander's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta
- Independence Cross with Swords
- Independence Medal
- Cross of Valour - four times
- Gold Cross of Merit - five times
- Chevalier of the Legion of Honour
- Order of Lāčplēsis Third Class (Latvia)
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Source: lkok.com
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14.02.1919 | The Polish-Soviet war started
The Polish–Soviet War (February 1919 – March 1921) was an armed conflict that pitted Soviet Russia and Soviet Ukraine against the Second Polish Republic and the Ukrainian People's Republic over the control of an area equivalent to today's Ukraine and parts of modern-day Belarus. Ultimately the Soviets, following on from their Westward Offensive of 1918–19, hoped to fully occupy Poland. Although united under communist leadership, Soviet Russia and Soviet Ukraine were theoretically two separate independent entities since the Soviet republics did not unite into the Soviet Union until 1922.
15.08.1920 | Battle of Warsaw
The Battle of Warsaw refers to the decisive Polish victory in 1920 at the apogee of the Polish–Soviet War. Poland, on the verge of total defeat, repulsed and defeated the invading Red Army. It was, and still is, celebrated as a great victory for the Polish people over Russia and communism. As Soviet forces invaded Poland in summer 1920, the Polish army retreated westward in disorder. The Polish forces seemed on the verge of disintegration and observers predicted a decisive Soviet victory. The battle of Warsaw was fought from August 12–25, 1920 as Red Army forces commanded by Mikhail Tukhachevsky approached the Polish capital of Warsaw and the nearby Modlin Fortress. On August 16, Polish forces commanded by Józef Piłsudski counterattacked from the south, disrupting the enemy's offensive, forcing the Russian forces into a disorganized withdrawal eastward and behind the Neman River. Estimated Russian losses were 10,000 killed, 500 missing, 30,000 wounded, and 66,000 taken prisoner, compared with Polish losses of some 4,500 killed, 10,000 missing, and 22,000 wounded. The defeat crippled the Red Army; Vladimir Lenin, the Bolshevik leader, called it "an enormous defeat" for his forces.[3] In the following months, several more Polish follow-up victories saved Poland's independence and led to a peace treaty with Soviet Russia and Soviet Ukraine later that year, securing the Polish state's eastern frontiers until 1939.